We are surrounded by mysteries, and not the least of
these is the mystery of our own being. "Whence did I come?" "Where
am I going?" and - greatest mystery of all - "What am I?" are
questions that have arisen again and again in the minds of many
persons. If we try to solve the question, What am I? by our own
understanding and reason, it remains but a question. There are
within us the stirrings of strange emotions, a reaching out after
things not seen, unutterable things that we cannot interpret. Is man
only a material being? Is he a beast of the field? Was he created
only to eat and drink and to enjoy material things? or is he
something more and something higher, with relationships more
profound and far-reaching than those of the mere material? The
Psalmist viewed this question and exclaimed: "What is man, that thou
art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? For
thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned
him with glory and honor. Thou maddest him to have dominion over the
works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet" (Psalms
8:4-6). To him, man was something more than an animal; he stood only
a little lower than that celestial host that surrounds God's throne.
And man is something more, something higher, indeed, than those
creatures which are his servants in this time world. When the
Psalmist speaks of their death, he says, "Thou takest away their
breath, they die, and return to their dust" (Ps alms 124:29). Of man
it is said, "If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself
his spirit and his breath, ... man shall turn again unto dust" (Job
34:14, 15). Man is a trinity, possessing the spiritual, the mental,
and the physical. He has a body like the animal, in its functions
and desires. He has reason and intelligence, and, above and beyond
all these, he has a moral nature. This he alone of all the
inhabitants of earth possesses. And it is with this moral nature
that ma n is most concerned. His life in this world is of few days
and full of trouble, and all the races of man look forward
confidently to another and higher and better life when this life has
come to an end.

Animals are creatures of instinct. They have
implanted in them certain primary elements of knowledge or
consciousness that guide them where their intelligence does not
reach. And man also has instincts, higher than those of the beast,
but no less significant. He feels intuitively that there is a power
above him which is greater than his own power. It takes no argument
to convince him of this, unless he has destroyed this primary
intuition through the subtleties of his reasoning. He is also
conscious that he is responsible to this higher power; that in some
way he has some relation with that power that gives moral value to
his actions; and that these actions are worthy of the praise of this
higher power or else merit retribution as being evil. He
instinctively places a moral value upon his conduct, and feels that
somehow, somewhere he must give an account. He feels within him the
stirrings of a life that is not merely animal life. He feels
capabilities and powers which are undeveloped here and now, and to
which he finds himself incapable of giving more than partial
expression; and this consciousness speaks to him of a future life
full of greatest possibilities.

All these instincts have a
substantial basis of reality. The squirrel that has never seen a
winter is led by instinct to hoard a store of nuts for the days to
come. The bird that knows nothing of climate save the summer, wings
its way in the autumn to a more genial climate, led by unerring
instinct. The bird which has been reared in captivity in an
artificial nest, if given its liberty will build a nest like those
of its kind, though it has never been taught. These instincts do not
mislead the unreasoning creatures. They are safe guides. Man's
instinct is no less true, and if followed will guide him in the
fundamentals of his life as it guides the lower creatures. Only man
disregards these instincts. He deifies his reason, and it leads him
in devious paths. He sets it up as the guide of his life and bows
down and worships it, but alas! how often it causes him to disregard
that which the truest wisdom would lead him to value most highly!
How many people live as though they were only animals! "Eat. drink,
and be merry," say they. They neglect that higher and better self.
They silence the voice of conscience. They shut their ears to God.
They close their eyes to their own knowledge. They live as though
they w ere no better than the brute. They are concerned only with
this world. They may recognize that there is a life beyond, but how
little do they consider it!

Reader, you are more than a
horse. There is in you that which is higher and better and nobler;
and there is something better for you than to give your attention,
your time, and your powers for this world alone. As you consider
yourself higher than the beast, so should your life be higher than
his. I beg of you, consider. How much higher is it? Are you living
for eternity, or does your life-plan reach only to the satisfying of
your own temporary and temporal
desires?